Kiley Ennas and Helena McKendrick

PART V: FEATURE LESSON PLAN

Non-SLO Lesson Plan Template

LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

*If used independent of a Unit Plan or SLO*

xx
Lesson Day

Goal Statement
A description of the enduring understanding or big ideas that students will
possess at the end of the Learning plan based on grade level content standards
and curriculum. How does this lesson fit with a larger set of goals? Big ideas?
What is the rationale for this lesson at this time for these students?
Students will respond to conflicting evidence and viewpoints
on the topic of family separation. This will allow students to
develop a deeper understanding of the topic of family
separation and it will allow students to develop critical
questioning skills. We chose this lesson for our students as it
draws into the larger topic of the history of immigration by
starting with today's issues. We want students to challenge their
predisposed beliefs regarding the topic of immigration through
education, questioning, and discussion. The students will be
able to use this knowledge to partake in educated discussions
regarding immigration. Students will be able to use reasonable
judgment to distinguish facts from opinions which is
essentially important in the world we live in today especially
on this topic.
 xx
How will this lesson support the learning goal?
(1c: Setting Instructional Outcomes)

PA Standards
List the Pennsylvania Standard(s) relevant for this lesson.
You should use language arts standards (reading/writing/Speaking and
listening) and also may add a content area standard.
Standard - CC.1.2.8.D
Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and
analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to
conflicting evidence or viewpoints.

Standard - CC.8.5.6-8.H
Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a
text.

● Key Terms:
Academic Language
What language will students be expected to utilize by the end of the lesson? ○ Family Separation
Consider Language function and language demands (see Lesson Plan User ○ Zero Tolerance Policy
Guide). ○ Illegal Immigration
What key terms are essential? ● Discourse
What key terms are essential to develop and extend students’ academic ○ What do you notice?
language? ○ What do you wonder?
What opportunities will you provide for students to practice the new language
and develop fluency, both written and oral?
What new discourse communities will students be joining or becoming familiar
with?

Objective(s)
(1c: Setting Instructional Outcomes)
Taking into consideration the learning goal what is the objective(s) of this
lesson that will support the progress toward the learning goal?
The statement should be directly observable (use verbs that can be measured).
Your objectives should include higher level thinking, such as “analyze,”
“apply,” “take a position on,” or “evaluate.”
Students will be able to understand and analyze the many
perspectives surrounding recent accounts of family separation
at the southern border.
Students will be able to utilize the literary skill of questioning
to develop a deeper understanding of controversial issues, such
as family separation.
Students will take a position on family separation at the
Southern border.

● Laptop
Technology Materials/ Resources
(1d: Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources) ● Projector
What texts, digital resources, & materials will be used in this lesson? How do ● YouTube video
the materials align with the learning objective/outcomes? If appropriate, what ○ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItWweMVi
educational technology will be used to support the learning outcomes of this 41s&t=1s
lesson? How do the resources support the learning objectives? ● Answergarden.com
Cite publications and any web resources. ○ Personal devices (laptops, smartphones, tablets)
 Anticipatory Set (Opening and Framing)
(1a: Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy)
15 minutes
How will you set the purpose and help students learn why today’s lesson is
important to them as learners?
How will you pique the interest or curiosity regarding the lesson topic?
How will you build on students’ prior knowledge?
How will you introduce and explain the strategy/concept or skill?
Provide detailed steps. This section should involve all students, activate or
build prior knowledge, and help students see the relevance or importance of
the lesson.
1. The teacher will project the image from above onto the
board using a projector for students before they enter
the classroom.
2. Once all students are seated students will have one
minute to silently reflect on their initial thoughts
regarding the image displayed on the board.
3. Students will then turn to a peer sitting next to them for
a brief think pair share activity.
4. Students will have questions displayed on the board to
use as a reference in their discussions with their
partners:
a. What do you notice?
b. What do you wonder?
c. What adjectives would you use to describe this
image?
d. What does this image remind you of anything
that you have seen or learned about?
5. The teacher will regroup students for a class-wide
 discussion about their answers to question c.
a. The teacher will utilize AnswerGarden.com to
facilitate this discussion.
b. AnswerGarden allows students to share
responses, and creates a word cloud showing the
responses.
c. The most common responses grow larger,
demonstrating common themes from the
discussion.
6. The teacher will then transition into the lesson by
describing how this photo is from recent news in the
United States.
 Before reading:
Instructional Activities
(1a: Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy; 1e: Designing
Coherent Instruction)
Exploration (Model): How will students explore the new concepts? How will
you model or provide explicit instruction?
Guided Practice: How will you provide support to students as they apply the
new concept? How will you allow them to practice (with teacher support)?
Independent practice: How will students review and solidify these concepts to
be able to use this new knowledge? How will you monitor and provide
feedback?
For literacy lessons, you should be clear about what students will do before,
during, and after reading, writing, speaking, listening.
BEFORE – previewing, predict, new vocabulary, background knowledge,
introducing a strategy
DURING – annotating, note-taking, thinking about a question
AFTER – applying, practicing, process/reflecting,
Provide detailed steps.
Make a movie in the reader’s mind.
Teacher talk
1. Introduce text and activity by stating the situation
described (Family separation) is a real, current event
that Americans have varying opinions about. Invite
students to consider all viewpoints on the situation
presented in the video, and question the
motives/intentions of both sides.
2. Read this statement to the class:
“Trump administration officials said Tuesday that
2,342 children have been separated from 2,206 parents
at the US-Mexico border between May 5 and June 9 as
part of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance”
policy of prosecuting people who cross the border
illegally” (Vox.com)
3. The students will be told the title of the video they are
about to watch: “The voices of the children separated at
the border”
a. Ask the students to think quietly about what
these voices may sound like--what
words/phrases may be said--what tone of voice
may be utilized--what emotions may be felt?
b. Students will then be asked to write down at two
adjectives that they think might describe the
emotion in the voices that they will hear in the
video.
c. Ask students to write down one thing that they
think the video will discuss in relation to the
audio clips of children separated at the border.
4. Use this independent pondering to transition into the
literacy strategy of questioning.
5. Explain how questioning the text not only helps clear
confusion, but helps gain a deeper understanding of it
 6. Prompt students to think about one main question they
have about the video (or the topic in general) before
watching the video.
During Reading:
1. Have students create a “think sheet” in their notes with
one side for “Notes” and the other for “Thinking”
2. Have students write their pre-reading question in the
“Thinking” column.
3. The teacher will play the video out loud to the entire
class, instructing the students only to watch and listen
the first time without taking notes.
4. Immediately after watching the first time, the teacher
will play the video again, this time for note-taking.
5. As the video plays, students should independently take
notes in the “Notes” column that answer their original
question.
6. Students should also jot more questions down in the
“Thinking” column as they arise, and answer them if
applicable.
After Reading:
1. When the video finishes, students will break into groups
of 3-4.
2. Each group member will take turns sharing a question
they wrote down in the “Thinking” column during the
video.
3. Group members will offer any possible answers they
may have to the question, whether from background
knowledge or from their interpretation of the video.
4. The teacher will regroup the students, and open the
following questions for a whole class discussion
a. What emotions did this video make you feel?
b. Did the video answer your questions about
family separation or make you have more
 questions? How so?
c. What would you still like to know about this
topic? What questions remain unanswered?
5. From this video, students will gain a better
understanding of family separation at the border.
Hopefully, this activity will prompt them to ask more
questions about the situation, and investigate the issue
(and what is being done about it) further in their own
time.
 Closure
(1e: Designing Coherent Instruction) 1. Students will participate in a think pair share activity.
15 minutes Students will work in groups of two to discuss and
How will students share or show what they have learned in this lesson? reflect with their partner, they will then share one of the
How will you restate the teaching point and clarify key concepts? points of their discussion with the class.
How will you provide opportunities to extend ideas and check for 2. Students will have the following questions written on
understanding? the board by the teacher as talking points in their
How will this lesson lead to the next lesson? partner discussions:
The closure should include applications and next steps. It should be active and a. Is family separation justified? Why or why not?
involve all students. b. Is the process of family separation efficient?
c. What are some of the possible obstacles
preventing families from being reunited?
3. The teacher will start the full class discussion by asking
an initial question,
T: “Family separation is an ongoing issue in the United
States. Why did it start?”
4. Students will respond to this question by adding to or
questioning the points of other classmates before them.
The teacher will allow students to run the discussion
while the teacher adds additional questions for students
to discuss. The discussion questions will be as follows:
1. Why are thousands of families still separated as
a result of this policy?
2. Why do you think this policy began?
3. Do you think enough is being done to reverse
the effects of family separation?
4. Is there any similar immigration policies like
this that this country had in the past?

Differentiation
(1e: Designing Coherent Instruction)
What differentiated support will you provide for students whose academic
development is below or above the current grade level?
What specific differentiation of content, process, products, and/or learning
environment do you plan to employ to meet the needs of all of your students?
How does your lesson support student differences with regard to linguistic,
academic, and cultural diversity?
How will your lesson actively build upon the resources that linguistically and
culturally diverse students bring to the experience?
How will your lesson will be supportive for all students, including English
Language Learners, and build upon the linguistic, cultural, and experiential
resources that they bring to their learning?
How will your lesson is designed to promote creative and critical thinking and
inventiveness?
Also differentiate for:
- Academic level and speed of completion
- Sensory earning style (visual, auditory, kinesthetic)
Students will ask additional questions, the questions listed
above will allow student discussion to be reflective of the
lesson and will begin to draw into our next lesson regarding the
history of immigration.
Since this introductory lesson is crucial for students to
understand in order to be able to fully interact with the rest of
the unit, we will be sure to make the lesson accessible for all
students. Our lesson incorporates multiple visual experiences,
including a picture, a video, and a word cloud. These
experiences replace learning experiences like reading
informative articles, or listening to lectures, and allow all
students, regardless of academic level or reading level, to fully
participate and comprehend the topic at hand. These
experiences may also appeal to visual learners, who may
require pictures and visuals to feel a connection to the topic,
since a majority of our students have no personal connection to
immigration at the Southern border. The video, “Voices of
children separated at the border,” and the multiple partner and
class-wide discussions throughout the lesson, may also appeal
to auditory learners who thrive on learning through listening.
The interactive word cloud activity, where every student
participates in creating a visual piece of the discussion, appeals
- Social identities
- Knowledge, assets, skills that students bring
to kinesthetic learners, who learn by doing, but also works to
keep every student engaged in the lesson, regardless of learning
style.
Since our lesson does not include any formal assessments,
students should not feel stress or anxiety about their learning,
and hopefully will be encouraged to just take all of the
information in and process it. If any students have trouble
completing the “think sheet” in a timely manner, they will be
told to complete as much as they can, and not worry about how
many items they write down. When the teacher utilizes the
checklist to assess understanding of questioning and the video,
he/she will not consider how much the student was able to
write down, only the quality of what they do have. The video
will also be played twice, once to just watch and listen, and
then again to fill out the “think sheet.” This way, students who
may struggle to multi-task will have the opportunity to focus
on one task at a time without falling behind their peers.
Our lesson will be supportive for students that are English
Language Learners by providing multiple opportunities to
engage in discussion. By providing both full class and partner
discussion ELL students will be able to engage in the class
through communication. This lesson incorporates writing
which is essential for ELL students to practice to further
linguistic development, students that are lower level ELL’s will
be allowed extra time to finish this part of the activity. ELL
students will be provided the opportunity to communicate with
peers one on one with the think pair share activity. This is
essential for ELL students as they often do not feel comfortable
 speaking in large groups in their non-native language. Students
will also be allowed the opportunity to engage in full class
discussion to practice their speaking skills. This will also
contribute to the class discussion comfortably by allowing the
ELL student to add to the discussion when they are ready to
speak. ELL students engaging in the discussion will create a
learning environment that furthers cultural diversity into the
classroom by providing an essentially important perspective on
the topic of immigration.

XX
Accommodations
(1e: Designing Coherent Instruction)
What classroom accommodations do you plan to employ to increase
curriculum access for students identified with special education needs or 504?
Describe how these accommodations align with the current Individualized
Education Plan (IEP) for each student as applicable (avoid using actual names
of students).
 XX
Modifications
(1e: Designing Coherent Instruction)
What curricular modifications and/or changes in performance standards, if
any, do you plan to employ to facilitate the participation of students identified
with special education needs?

Throughout the lesson, we will be incorporating multiple

Assessment (Formal or Informal).
(1f: Assessing Student Learning) forms of formative assessments, to ensure each student has an
adequate understanding of this content, since it sets the stage
How will you and the students assess where the learning objectives, listed for the rest of the unit. During the anticipatory set, each
above, were met?
student will have the opportunity to share their thinking via
Each formal or informal assessment should describe how it is aligned to the
Answergarden.com. The website will create a visual collage of
above objective(s).
Assessment should be detailed and tied to the objective(s).
every adjective a student submits, allowing the teacher to
For FORMATIVE assessment, be specific about what you’re listening assess how the majority of the class feels about this topic, and
for/looking for. where they are in their understanding of the issue.
The teacher will have another opportunity to check for
student understanding, and look into their thoughts, later in the
lesson when students complete a “think sheet.” This note
organizer allows the teacher to view every student’s thoughts
on the issue, while also viewing their success with the skill of
questioning, which is the main skill practiced in this lesson.
In order to have a standardized method of evaluating how
the class as a whole did with the skill of questioning, the
teacher will utilize a checklist while reading through each
student’s “think sheet.” The checklist will include specific
criteria, such as “the student asked questions showing evidence
of deep thinking,” and “the students’ questions were relevant
and focused on the topic at hand.” For each student, the teacher
will use their “think sheet,” to assess whether the student did or
did not excel in that specific criteria. The students will not see
this evaluation checklist, and it will not be counted as a grade.
It will only be a tool for the teacher to decide if he/she needs to
spend more time working with the skill individually.